The Best Laid Plans, Episode I
by OpticalRacer
Summary: On an insignificant, out-of-the-way world, two young friends are eager to leave home for a life of excitement. However, in the golden age of Palpatine's Empire, excitement can creep up in the most unwelcome ways. Set one year before the Battle of Yavin. OC-centric. Rated T for violence and language on par with the films, and some drinking.
1. Chapter 1

**The Best Laid Plans - A Star Wars Serial Adventure**

* * *

_Author's Note: I created these characters and situations, but it's all within the Star Wars galaxy which sprung from the mind of George Lucas._

* * *

**Episode I**

Nearly twenty years have passed since Chancellor Palpatine all but destroyed the Jedi order and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Galaxy.

Despite the formation of The Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Empire's sphere of influence continues to spread to the more distant worlds in the outer systems.

One such world, Galathu, has yet to fall under complete control of the Empire, and two young friends look to the stars for a future of excitement away from the doldrums of their insignificant world…

* * *

**Chapter One**

Soraa Matii was just closing the weapons shop on the main street of the town of Sim Katall on Galathu, a moon of the gas giant planet Viinn. She was a young woman, very tall and thin but considered attractive at least by some. Her shoulder-length hair framed her fair-complexioned face with gentle waves of coppery brown. Her caramel eyes projected both an innocence and intensity that seemed to be at odds with one another. She was born about the same time the Empire was established, nineteen galactic standard years ago.

Goan Akkar, who ran the shop, was a portly middle-aged man who still had a full head of hair despite the stress of the restrictions imposed by the Empire on weapons sales. Most of his customers were too afraid to purchase the more-powerful, and outlawed, weapons that provided him a reasonable profit margin. He managed to stay in business, thanks to the precious few patrons who had the nerve purchase the illegal weapons from his small secret stock. To round out his business, Goan also bought, traded and repaired a large selection of weapons.

Soraa took her job very seriously, learning as much as she could about all kinds of ranged weapons – blaster pistols, rifles and carbines, and even the more archaic slug-throwers. Thanks to Goan's tutelage, she was also a decent markswoman. Ever since she took the job at Goan's weapons shop almost three years ago, he considered her the daughter he never had.

Soraa locked up the last transparasteel cabinet and brushed the dust off her nondescript tunic and trousers. "I'm heading out now, Old Man!"

Goan replied in jest, "Eh? What was that you said?"

He loved to feign deafness whenever Soraa called him 'Old Man'. He knew she said it in a fond manner and enjoyed playing the part. And she knew good and well that he had extremely sharp hearing.

Soraa walked over to Goan and patted him on the back of his shoulder. "I'm going home now," she told him as she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Good night, my dear," he replied.

Just as Goan thought of her as his daughter, Soraa thought of him as her father. She barely knew her birth parents. She was born on Galathu and lived with them on Krrad, Galathu's arid sister moon, where they worked at one of the many bronzium mines. When she was very young, her parents were caught up in an accident in the mine and both were killed. They were her only family so she was sent back to Galathu to live in an orphanage.

Soraa walked out of the shop and down the main road. Sim Katall was a fairly small town so there weren't many diversions for the locals. But there was one bar that was very popular, and was the largest and oldest – Norrel's Haven.

Norrel first opened The Haven, as the locals call it, over fifty standard years ago, when Sim Katall was first established. It had gone through several owners after he died of old age. Every subsequent owner had kept relatively true to his vision for The Haven as an all-encompassing place for the locals to forget about their drab lives for a little while.

Soraa walked to The Haven, as she did most nights after work. There was a fair amount of speeder traffic and some pedestrians, but not a lot of artificial lighting. Viin dominated the night sky, bathing the town in a subtle lavender hue from the sun's light reflected off its banded purple atmosphere.

Sim Katall was a relatively safe place to be. But just in case, Soraa always kept a small hold-out blaster in her boot. And she knew how to use it if she ever had an unwelcome close encounter, which thankfully hadn't happened in a long time.

Most of the people in Sim Katall were of various human and near-human races, but there were also some representatives of the odder-looking species like the green-skinned, snouted Rodians or the three-eyed, goat-faced Gran.

Soraa walked into the bar section of The Haven. The tavern was very crowded, as often was the case. The countless conversations created an incomprehensible wash of noise. Although Basic was the most commonly spoken language on Galathu, there were a few other languages being spoken by the varied crowd. A couple of server droids were making their rounds in between the tables. An automated music player could barely be heard over the din and a Crashball match displayed on the HoloNet monitor.

Soraa made her way over to the main bar off to her left and sat down right in front of a bar maid busy washing glasses with her back to the counter.

Soraa yelled above the din, "Hey! Gimme a mug of your finest bantha spit here!" She wore a big grin on her face.

The bar maid stopped her work and stood motionless for a moment, her back still to Soraa.

"If you don't stop teasing me like that, I'm going to beat you into gundark poodoo!" the bar maid barked in response.

Without warning, the bar maid quickly spun around and shot her fist right at Soraa's head. She dodged and caught the bar maid's wrist. They both started laughing.

"How's business tonight, Ina?" Soraa asked the bar maid, who handed her a mug of ale.

"Take a look around! I think we're doing rather well. I just wish I could see a little more of the profits in my pay."

Ja'Ina Anour, or 'Ina' as Soraa called her, was a pretty twenty-year-old Kiffar woman with a honey-brown complexion and raven hair in a thick braid that reached down to the small of her back. Her dark, exotic eyes seemed to emanate an inner peace that could transmit into the spirit of anyone who looked into them. In a stark contrast to Soraa's tall and lean frame, Ja'Ina was petite and more athletic in build. She wore a crop top with a knee-length skirt.

Soraa and Ja'Ina were best friends, having been together in the orphanage since they were young. While it was known where Soraa came from, Ja'Ina's past is a total mystery. When she was barely a year old, she was anonymously left at the orphanage. Just over three years ago, the young women left the orphanage together and moved to Sim Katall.

Ever since their time in the orphanage, they dreamed of the day they could leave their backwater world. The young friends found life here too boring and wanted to do something that counted in the galaxy. Living in Sim Katall meant that they did not hear much news from off-world, save for the HoloNet and a few patrons of The Haven. It just wasn't a big place for spacers to meet and discuss their doings.

Though still sparsely-populated, the populations on Galathu and Krrad surged in recent years with people who wanted to get away from the war between the rebellion and the Empire. Living on an insignificant world had the advantage that the Empire's influence was minimal at best. The locals did not want to get involved in the galaxy-wide conflict.

Many of the older people in town grumbled about the Empire's draconian laws, remembering the days of the Republic where democracy was much more common. Those of Soraa and Ja'Ina's generation around here didn't know what to think of the Empire. People were able live by a more lax interpretation of the strict Imperial laws. Galathu was an out-of-the-way world at the distant end of the Mid-Rim that didn't see much Imperial presence on a regular basis, as long as nothing attracted their attention.

Still, keeping words of dissatisfaction toward the Empire to a minimum was the best policy. One never knew if they had any eyes or ears nearby. In spite of the ominous influence of the Empire, people could still enjoy themselves.

Ja'Ina went back to work and Soraa stayed to enjoy more drinks until The Haven closed and Ja'Ina was done. They walked home together late that night.

It was even darker by that time since Viinn was much lower in the sky. But Galathu's giant mother planet still filled the entire span of the horizon, its purple light breaking through small gaps in the tall trees of the nearby forest.

* * *

The young women shared a modest flat near one of the agrofarms on the edge of town. They were saving their money to get off-world on some passenger ship from Jum Katar, Galathu's spaceport. They wanted to get out and experience the galaxy while they were still young.

Tired and somewhat intoxicated, Soraa collapsed on the front room couch and turned on the HoloNet News. It was the same stuff as usual – Imperial agents arrested a group of rebels, the newly-appointed Moff gave a speech in the regional capital, and so forth. She had it on more for background noise.

"It's amazing how nothing of what you hear about from the people at The Haven ever gets shown on the HoloNet," Soraa sighed. "Things must be so much more interesting out there than the Empire wants us to see."

Ja'Ina answered back as she walked to the bedroom, "all the more reason to get out of here. How was business today?"

"Not good, as usual. I don't know how the Old Man can stay in business. Most of what's legal is so low-powered that they may as well be souvenir lumas for the tourists!"

Ja'Ina popped her head out of the bedroom door. "Tourists? What kind of tourists do we have around here?"

"Mynock mites!" Soraa started laughing like she was as crazy as a short-circuited droid on nuclear-powered spice.

"I think you've taken a few too many stun blasts at the range, Soraa."

Soraa sat up suddenly. "Heeeeeyyy! How do you know you don't like it if you don't try it?"

Ja'Ina let Soraa's detached comment go and went to get ready for bed. Several minutes later, Ja'Ina emerged from the bedroom in her nightclothes to bring her exhausted friend to bed, who she found fast asleep on the couch. She thought about moving Soraa for a moment, but decided to just let her sleep there as she looked very comfortable.

Ja'Ina knew inside that Soraa was frustrated that Goan was not able to pay her very well for all her hard work. His bottom line was rock bottom. This made it very hard for Soraa to save up her part of the funds so they could leave Galathu and really start their lives. Ja'Ina felt her pain.

Ja'Ina covered Soraa with a blanket and deactivated the HoloNet monitor. She then went back to the bedroom to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

The next morning, Ja'Ina was up well before Soraa. She was outside in the grassy field next to their flat, exercising and practicing her dance moves as did every morning. A pair of wooly nerfs quietly grazed behind a fence on the far side of the field. Ja'Ina loved living near an agrofarm and would often visit the nerfs to hand-feed them some treats.

She looked beautiful in the morning light wearing a leotard and slippers which she always wore for exercise and dance practice. Ja'Ina was an accomplished dancer and sometimes would perform at The Haven as part of the live entertainment. As she progressed through the sequence of the routine, her moves varied from slow and fluid to quick and powerful. Slowly, Ja'Ina turned around with intricate footwork accented with serpentine torso motions. She followed that up with hip rotations and fluid arm movements with full spins.

Still drowsy, Soraa slowly walked down the short flight of steps out of the flat over to where Ja'Ina was exercising. Standing at the edge of the grass, Soraa sipped her cup of stimcaf as she watched her friend from behind. She thought Ja'Ina didn't know she was there.

Without turning around, Ja'Ina spoke into the air, "Good morning! Why are you just standing there?" Twirling on her toes and smiling playfully, she added, "Do ya like what ya see?"

"Uhh, just always amazed with your dancing..." Soraa yawned.

She was also amazed that Ja'Ina knew she was there without seeing or hearing her. It was not the first time she displayed such extraordinary perception.

"Are you going to the blaster range today?" asked Ja'Ina as she walked up to her sleepy friend.

Soraa stared into her cup. "No, don't feel like it," she muttered.

Ja'Ina remained cheerful. "Well, I don't work until later tonight. I'm dancing for the band."

The band she was referring to was called The Sea of Lights. They played a wide spectrum of styles ranging from driving electro-dance music to mellow ambient textures and minimalistic melodies underscored with steady beats. They weren't local to Sim Katall but were considered the house band at The Haven. They traveled all around Galathu and even occasionally played on Krrad, the smaller sister moon. Ja'Ina was friends with the percussionist, and Soraa had a secret crush on the lead vocalist. She thought his voice was mesmerizing.

Ja'Ina continued. "Let's go out to the forest today and get some fresh air."

"I don't know..."

"Come on, it'll do you some good! You've got the day off anyway..."

Soraa's day off wasn't her choice. Goan couldn't afford to have her work every day, even at her meager wage. She hung her head low and grumbled, disappointed with her work situation.

Ja'Ina gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's not your fault. It's the way the Empire suppresses the economy. It's amazing how their influence stretches all the way out here from Coruscant. Don't worry, the day will come when we'll be able to get out of here and make a real life for ourselves."

"You've said that for the last two years, but things still haven't changed." Soraa crossly glanced at her friend.

"You're coming out to the forest with me, whether you want to or not!" Ja'Ina grabbed Soraa's hand and pulled her back into the flat.

All Soraa could get out was "Hey!"

The young women changed for their outing. Ja'Ina wore a crop top with harem pants and boots, while Soraa wore a tank top with long skin-tight shorts and boots. Ja'Ina sported a long dagger on her belt, while Soraa wore her DL-18 blaster pistol on hers.

Ja'Ina pointed to Soraa's blaster. "You don't need that thing."

"Ina, you're not my mother. And yes I do. You know that."

Soraa never ventured out of the flat without some kind of weapon. To not have a blaster handy made her very nervous.

* * *

One night not long after she started working at Goan's shop, Soraa had been accosted by a very drunk Rodian who had some kind of unpleasant plans for her. Goan had given her the hold-out blaster for protection, but things happened too fast for the basic training she had. She wasn't able to draw it before the Rodian had grabbed a hold of her. She struggled and screamed but he wouldn't let go.

Luckily for the young woman, an off-world spacer in full body armor stepped up from the shadows and punched the Rodian right in the snout. Soraa's assailant dropped her and turned to face the guy who interrupted his fun. Before the armored man had the chance to finish the task, Soraa pulled out her blaster and shot the Rodian point-blank in the back of the knee. He fell to the street, drunkenly hollering in pain. The armored man grabbed him by his neck and punched him in the face one more time, knocking him unconscious.

Soraa never got to see the man's face. He wore a light-green helmet with a 'T' shaped visor which coordinated with the rest of his weathered light-green armor. He had some kind of fur braid hanging around his right shoulder, and a cape-like cloth off his left. He also sported a short blaster carbine and a strange backpack.

He spoke gruffly and with little emotion. "Thank you for your help. I've been tracking this piece of bantha dung across three systems."

He tossed her a handful of credit coins and walked away, dragging the unconscious Rodian behind him. All Soraa could do was sit there on the street and watch in disbelief as the stranger disappeared with his quarry.

After that episode, Goan had given her more advanced training with using blasters. At one point, he gave Soraa an old DL-18 that he had refurbished himself. It was not the most powerful blaster around, but it was enough to provide decent protection. Under Goan's tutelage she had become quite proficient with it. Ever since then, Soraa has always carried at least one of her weapons.

* * *

Ja'Ina and Soraa walked down the road past the agrofarm to a densely-wooded area called Ratel Forest. They came to this area many times, spending hours at a time walking through the wilderness. There were many creatures that lived in the forest and some were dangerous, but they tended to stay hidden from visitors.

The air was still rather cool beneath the arboreal canopy. There was a gentle breeze rustling through the trees which carried pleasant scents along through the air.

As if imbued with extraordinary vigor from the forest itself, Ja'Ina traveled along the path quickly and effortlessly. After a while, Soraa called out to her from a dozen meters behind.

"Hey Ina, slow down! Let's take a break. I'm getting hungry."

Ja'Ina turned and ran light-footed back to Soraa and said, "Okay, sounds like a good idea!"

They found a spot with soft grass between a pair of large, smooth rocks and sat down. Ja'Ina was carrying a small rucksack containing some water and food. They opened it up and had a snack.

After taking a few bites, Soraa leaned back on one of the tall rocks and enjoyed the sounds of the forest and its inhabitants. "Thank you for bringing me here, Ina. I feel a lot better. I'm sorry I was being a pain in the choobies."

Ja'Ina smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's nice to put aside our troubles for a little while, isn't it? This place holds a lot of positive energy. All of the life around us emanates it. Can you feel it?"

Soraa closed her eyes for a moment, taking in what she heard and smelled. She felt relaxed and at peace, figuring that was whatever Ja'Ina was talking about.

"Yeah, I can feel it."

"You can almost hear the thoughts of the plants and animals around us. It is..."

"It is what, Ina?" Soraa looked up from her food.

She didn't respond to Soraa's question. Ja'Ina seemed to be focused on something that was close. She looked around, occasionally closing her eyes for a few seconds.

Without warning, Ja'Ina sprang towards Soraa with her dagger in her hand. "Look out!"

Soraa ducked as Ja'Ina flew at her. Right above Soraa's head, Ja'Ina met with some kind of large creature. It plowed into Ja'Ina and sent her rolling back into the grassy area, then landed between the two women.

It was a tuuk, a large carnivorous reptilian quadruped with a thick line of fur along the length of its back. The hulking beast stood well over a meter at its shoulder, its mouth filled with long, sharp teeth. It lunged at Ja'Ina again, seemingly unaware of Soraa.

Ja'Ina rolled up to a crouch and spun over to one side in order to avoid the creature's charge. She slashed at it as it passed her. It howled in pain, but the wound was superficial. Her dagger was ineffective against its tough hide.

The tuuk turned towards Ja'Ina again, but this time Soraa shot it just as it started to charge. This sent the beast spinning away on its side into a boulder. It was still alive but incapacitated by the fatal blaster wound. The animal whimpered and moaned, barely moving its legs.

Ja'Ina crawled over to the creature's side. The young women had never seen a tuuk in person before as the animals tended to be very elusive.

It was suffering and couldn't move, so Ja'Ina found a soft spot in its underbelly and thrust the dagger in all the way. The beast cried out and then died. She pulled the blood-soaked dagger out of the animal and knelt by it. She was saddened by its death, but also thankful that she and Soraa were okay.

It wasn't that Soraa didn't like animals, but she didn't feel as much sympathy for the tuuk as Ja'Ina did. Ever since they were little, Ja'Ina showed a strong affinity toward nature and animals. Soraa thought it was a little silly for Ja'Ina to be that way, but she respected her best friend's feelings just the same.

Soraa walked towards Ja'Ina and the dead animal and stopped. Ja'Ina was still kneeling with her head down, almost like she was praying or feeling pain for it.

"Are you okay?" Soraa inquired.

Ja'Ina put a hand on the tuuk's head then slowly stood up. "Yes, I'm okay. It's no longer suffering."

Soraa patted her holstered blaster. "Didn't need it, huh?"

"Not funny," Ja'Ina said with a frown.

"Sorry." Soraa could almost feel her admonishment like a slap to the head.

They gathered up their things and walked back out of the forest to their flat. They didn't speak about the incident, instead choosing to talk about anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Soraa and Ja'Ina rested when they returned to their flat. They had sonic showers and shared a simple meal before getting ready for the evening.

Ja'Ina dressed in her dancing outfit, which consisted of a crisscross halter top and a calf-length skirt that was slit on the left side all the way up to her hip. The material was light and beautifully ornate. The outfit was completed with sandals that strapped up around her calves and some jewelry. She styled her long raven hair into two braids, one on each side of the back of her head. She intentionally wanted to emulate the appearance of Twi'lek head tails for an even more alluring effect.

Soraa went with a simpler affair – a skin-tight sleeveless unitard with calf-length boots. Her outfit didn't leave very much to the imagination with respect to her tall, thin figure. Again, she carried her hold-out blaster in one of her boots, just in case.

The young women's outfits always garnered much attention from the local men, and they knew it. Soraa and Ja'Ina had a lot of fun teasing men with their attractiveness. It was the only enjoyable excitement they could get in Sim Katall.

They walked to The Haven wearing long overcoats over their clothes to avoid any extra attention until they were in the bar. Since Ja'Ina was working, she entered through the employee entrance in the back while Soraa walked in via the front door. As soon as she stepped inside, Soraa shed her coat and gave it to the coat keeper, who silently gawked at her as he accepted it.

Soraa found her way to a table in front of the compact stage. It was still a bit early for the show, so there weren't very many patrons present yet. The Sea of Lights had most of their gear set up for the show. As she sat down, she caught sight of the lead singer and she started to blush. He noticed her and gave her a smile.

Soraa hailed a server droid and ordered Nimu ale. It was her drink of choice, brewed on Galathu from the roots of the indigenous nimu tree. It had a rich flavor that wasn't bitter, and decently potent. While she normally didn't let herself get heavily inebriated, Soraa did tend to depend on alcohol to relax, a practice Ja'Ina did not approve of.

The band started their sound check. A subdued ambient sound with thick sonic textures filled the room. Soraa reclined in her chair, stretching her long, thin legs out alongside the table and closed her eyes. As the washes of sound built up, a steady, bassy drum beat faded in, sounding like a heartbeat rising up from the depths of the sound. The singer, Raelin, started the first verse. His voice had a breathy quality to it without being raspy. Soraa loved the sound of his voice – it was almost like a lullaby, but sung by a lover not a parent.

The server droid set Soraa's mug of ale on the table with a loud clang right next to her, snapping her out of her trance. She shot up on her seat and glared at the automaton with thoughts of using it for blaster practice.

[I apologize for the disturbance, Miss,] the droid added with a pre-programmed response from its databanks.

"Yeah, well try to be more considerate next time, rust-head!"

[Affirmative. I will run level-one diagnostic checks on my customer service systems after closing time. Fifteen credits, please.]

Soraa shoved the coins into the receptacle slot in the automaton's chest. The droid rocked back slightly with the excessive force she used to accentuate her dissatisfaction with the service. The droid merely bowed and left to serve another patron.

Soraa picked up the ale and took a drink. She turned her attention back to the stage and realized that the band had stopped playing. After some tweaking of their amplifiers and mixers, Raelin turned back to his microphone.

He quickly counted out, "One-two-three-four!"

The band started playing a driving drum loop with a busy, intricate bass line. A bouncy chord progression started up and a catchy melody soared over the mix. A Bith named Ag'ran, the second musician in the quartet, who played the Gokr pianorgan, bobbed his bulbous bald head to the music.

Soraa stood up and started dancing in front of the stage, even though she really couldn't dance. The music carried her away and she couldn't help herself, especially since there weren't yet many people in the bar to watch her. She turned around, shaking her narrow hips, and raised her hands up holding her ale over her head. Her unitard shone iridescently in the stage lights, further accenting her thin figure. It was difficult for Raelin to hide his attraction.

When the music stopped, Soraa stood there on the dance floor and finished off her Nimu ale. With the sound check over, Raelin stepped down off the stage and walked towards her. When she saw him coming, she froze, not knowing what to do.

He greeted her, "Hello there, my name is-"

"Raelin!" she squeaked.

"Yes, you know my name. You have me at a disadvantage," he said with a smile.

She started to blush again. "My name is Soraa..."

Raelin slightly bowed his head. "It is my pleasure to meet you Soraa. I'm glad you like our music. Do you have any of our recordings?"

"Uh, no," she said, embarrassed. She couldn't afford to buy music or video recordings with her meager pay.

"Well then, I'll have to remedy that! Come with me."

Raelin walked back towards the stage and Soraa followed him, curious about what he was doing. She regarded him as she walked behind him. He was averagely handsome, slight in build but not quite as tall as her. He had a very light complexion and long platinum locks that would sometimes partially cover his face. But most of all, Soraa was captivated by his voice. She stopped short of the stage while he stepped up.

Raelin walked over to a box in the back of the stage and grabbed something out of it. He wrote something on the item and turned around, expecting Soraa to be right behind him. He was surprised to find her at the edge of the stage. He called out to her.

"Hey, come on up! It's okay."

"Oh, are you sure?" On the inside, she was quite excited that he was actually inviting her up on the stage with him.

Raelin answered by gesturing up to himself and Soraa gladly joined him. He handed her an audio disc.

"This is our latest recording. It's the only one we have with us right now."

Soraa was surprised, "Wow! I can really have this?"

"Yes. This is your copy. Take a look..."

He gestured to the disc's package. He signed it for her just under his picture on the cover - _To Soraa, my number one fan - may this music always bring you great pleasure. - Raelin_

"Th-thank you!"

Without thinking, Soraa reached out to him and gave him a big hug. The other musicians saw the whole exchange.

The Zabrak Lorand-bass player was the first to tease Raelin. "Woo hoo! Here's Raelin's _latest_ groupie! Lookin' good, you sly serrak!"

Soraa stepped back from Raelin, not knowing what to think about that comment.

Raelin turned to his buddy. "Shut up, Doren, or I'll shove your bass down your throat!" Raelin then turned back to Soraa. "Don't listen to him. He's lying through his sharp teeth."

"Well," Soraa paused for a moment. "I suppose I'll believe you, but only because Ina is friends with your drummer," she playfully said with a smile.

Raelin chuckled. "Oh, you're Ja'Ina's friend! Well, that at least should give you a reason to trust me. Look, the show's about to start. See ya!" He winked at Soraa and turned back to his band mates. He slapped Doren upside the head, careful to avoid the Zabrak's horns.

* * *

Soraa turned to find that the bar was filling with patrons. Her table was still unoccupied so she went back to it and sat back down.

The band started playing another ambient piece as an intro and Soraa reclined in her chair with a smile. The server droid came back and gave her another mug of ale, this time complements of The Haven. Part of the droid's programming was to ensure customer satisfaction.

The ambient music lasted for a few minutes before they broke into the second song from the sound check. This time, Soraa did not get up and dance. She knew she wasn't a good dancer, and besides, this was now Ja'Ina's gig.

Ja'Ina came out through the door to the restaurant area and shimmied onto the dance floor in front of the stage. She was greeted with many hoots and hollers which illustrated her popularity with the men.

Ja'Ina saw Soraa sitting at the edge of the dance floor and smiled at her. Soraa raised her ale in toast to her friend. Ja'Ina responded with a slight bow then continued with her routine.

Her movements complemented the music beautifully. She never choreographed her shows, just improvised from the feelings she got from the music. Even if the song was unfamiliar to her, Ja'Ina could still feel an unexplainable familiarity with it. The first few times that happened, she was confused and unsure of herself. But as time went on, she learned to trust those feelings and go with whatever they told her. The results were always enjoyable for both her and the audience.

The show went on for several more songs and the crowd loved it. Ja'Ina reveled in the positive energies emanating from the audience. Dancing was a great way for her to earn extra income, but she would only get the opportunity once in a while.

The first set ended and Ja'Ina came to sit with Soraa. The server droid brought Ja'Ina a glass of chilled water.

Raelin walked over to the women and greeted Soraa. "Hi there. What did you think of the show?"

Soraa took another swig of her ale. "I like it!"

Ja'Ina interjected. "I'm glad you two finally met! She's had her eye on you for a while now, Raelin."

Soraa shied back, embarrassed as Ja'Ina playfully elbowed her.

Ja'Ina stood up. "Well, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go say 'hi' to Irsann."

Irsann rounded out the quartet as the percussionist.

Raelin turned back to Soraa. "Are you staying for the second set?"

"Oh yeah I will!"

"Great! Well I gotta get back up there to start the show in a little bit. Bye..."

Soraa gave Raelin a little wave goodbye.

* * *

A little while later, the second set started. Ja'Ina returned, this time with a sword. She had a scimitar with an ornate hilt and a beautifully-polished blade. She wielded it deftly with graceful and sensual movements. The sword had a live blade, but she was proficient enough to not injure herself or anyone else around her. Ja'Ina gracefully swung the sword around her and above her then balanced it on her head as she danced. Her moves garnered much applause and cheering.

At this point, Ja'Ina started playing more with her skirt, revealing more of her honey-brown-toned leg through the slit. The crowd started to get more into the show, but a little too much so. There had been more-than-usual imbibing that night and many of the patrons were quite inebriated.

An older man named Merek stood up and yelled, "I love yooooouuuuu!"

He visited The Haven frequently and had a reputation of being drunk and obnoxious on many occasions. He started stumbling towards the stage. Other patrons tried to stop him, but that just angered him and he broke through the blockade. He got to the dance floor and went for Ja'Ina from behind. Without even looking back, she knew what was happening.

Ja'Ina grabbed the sword off her head, thrust it behind her and hooked Merek's leg with the reverse edge of the curved blade. He tripped and fell backwards to the floor. This elicited laughter from the crowd and made the drunkard even angrier.

Soraa had a front row seat for the whole spectacle, but didn't get up to help Ja'Ina. She knew that her friend could handle herself just fine in a situation like this. She smiled and took another swig of ale.

Marek got up and lunged at Ja'Ina. But she anticipated his move and quickly spun around to face him. She dropped to a low crouch and swung the sword, back side of the blade again, straight up between his legs. He screamed with the pain that broke through his inebriation. In one quick and fluid movement, she sprang up and swung the sword around again, striking him across the side of the head with the flat of the blade. He quickly toppled over sideways onto the dance floor, out cold with a bloodied head.

Her moves were graceful and rhythmic, which made the whole situation look like part of her dance routine. The crowd cheered once more and Ja'Ina bowed.

A couple of people picked Merek up and threw him out on the street. The show continued as if nothing had happened. The rest of the crowd got rowdy as the night went on, but their behavior was much better than Merek's.

* * *

The show concluded with no further incident and the bar cleared out for the most part after that. Soraa stayed at her table and watched the band tear down their gear. Ja'Ina came out after a little while, carrying her long coat and sheathed sword. She sat down at the table with Soraa.

Soraa slapped her friend's shoulder. "That was quite the excitement tonight, eh Ina?"

"I hate having to do that." Ja'Ina frowned.

She didn't need to use her self-defense skills very often. Even though the young friends had fun teasing men, the responses were usually harmless.

Soraa nervously cleared her throat. "Well, you gave that guy something to remember in the morning. He won't try anything like that again!"

Ja'Ina just silently nodded and drank some more water. Soraa downed the last of her fourth ale, feeling relaxed but also somewhat tipsy.

The musicians approached the young women.

Raelin addressed Ja'Ina first. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Raelin."

"I was worried that that guy had you."

"He was a fool and didn't realize who he was up against. He's just lucky I didn't want to kill him."

Soraa nervously jumped in. "N-not like she's ever killed anyone before..."

"Anyway," Raelin redirected, "we enjoyed playing here again and having you dance with us Ja'Ina."

"S-so when will you return?" Soraa bashfully asked.

"It'll be a few months at least. We'll be hitting more small towns then make our way to Jum Katar for a gig and fly out to Krrad for a couple more gigs there."

That gave Soraa an idea. Jum Katar was less than a day away by airspeeder. The young women didn't have the kind of money needed for that trip yet. And that wasn't even considering the money they needed once they got there in order to get off-world.

She asked, "Say, will you be able to swing by here again on your way to Jum Katar?"

Raelin answered, a little puzzled. "I suppose we could, but wouldn't be for another month. Why?"

"Well... Could you take us with you?"

Ja'Ina nearly choked on her water. "What?"

"Why would you want to go to Jum Katar?" Doren asked.

Ja'Ina glared at her friend. "Ohhh no, no, no, Soraa!" She forcefully put her glass on the table to accentuate her dissent.

Soraa proudly spoke. "We've wanted to get outta Sim Katall for a long time now. We're ready to leave this boring place and go somewhere more exciting and eventually leave Galathu!"

"I don't know if you should do that," Doren croaked.

"Yeah, some of these larger places, especially the spaceport, can be dangerous if you're not careful," Irsann warned.

Soraa continued, not feeling concerned. "But that's exactly what we've wanted – something more exciting, something to do with our lives."

Raelin interjected with a grin, "wasn't tonight _exciting_ enough with Ja'Ina's fan?"

Ja'Ina punched him in the arm hard enough to make him groan.

Soraa spoke up again. "But our lives are pretty much stuck here, right Ina?"

Ja'Ina answered, "Yeah, that's true, but-"

Irsann picked it up from there. "But at least here you're safe from all the things that can happen out there in the galaxy. We've only gone between Galathu and Krrad, but it's enough travel to hear and see plenty."

Raelin added, "Yeah, if you're not getting caught between the Empire and the Rebellion, it's the pirates, smugglers, bounty hunters and other scum and villainy to look out for."

"Okay," Soraa relented, "how about we just go to Jum Katar and see how it goes there? No plans to leave Galathu yet, just get a taste of more action. How does that sound, Ina?"

"That's fine, I suppose..."

"This is finally our opportunity, Ina! Why the hesitation?"

"I don't know..." Ja'Ina thought for a moment then came up with something to answer with. "We would be imposing on the band!" It was a legitimate concern, but it was more of an excuse not to go.

Raelin shook his head. "Actually, it wouldn't be an imposition for us, as long as you don't have much to bring with you."

"Not much at all!" Soraa could barely hide her excitement. "So we'll see you in a month?"

Raelin answered, "Yeah, sure thing. It'll be nice to see you again." He winked at Soraa.

"There's just one thing," added Doren, "we have only an old repulsor van to travel in, so it would be about two days' trip from here to Jum Katar. It's a slow way to travel, but we take advantage of being able to stop and play in any smaller town we come across. Are you sure you want to be stuck with a bunch of poor musicians?"

"Nope, not at all, it's all part of the adventure!" said Soraa, grabbing Raelin's arm. "You'll be stuck with two poor women!"

"It's settled then; see you in a month!" Raelin answered, hugging Soraa.

Everyone said their goodbyes. The band proceeded to pack their gear into their repulsor van while Soraa and Ja'Ina donned their long coats and headed out back home.

* * *

Soraa and Ja'Ina walked back to their flat. It was really late since the band played until Last Call. The young women changed into their nightclothes, got into their beds and put out the light.

"Good night, Ina."

"Good night, Soraa."

Some time of silence passed.

Soraa was still awake. "Why do you have so much hesitation about travelling to Jum Katar? We've been waiting for this opportunity for years now."

Ja'Ina was nearly asleep. As such, her voice betrayed some annoyance. "I know we've been talking about leaving Sim Katall ever since we were kids. I can't help but think you're motivated by your new _friend_ Raelin."

"Okay, I will admit that he makes the journey a little more appealing." Soraa smiled in the dark. "But you must admit that this setup is perfect!"

Soraa turned onto her side to face Ja'Ina, and continued. "We won't need nearly as much money just to get to Jum Katar as we originally thought. That way we can focus more on getting off-world."

Ja'Ina sat up. "Wait a minute. Didn't you say in The Haven that we would go there and just see how things are, not focus on leaving Galathu yet?"

"Well, yeah. But come on, you really think we won't want to see more after getting there? It's just what we've been dreaming of."

"We're still just going there to see how things are at the spaceport, not immediately jump into a starship."

"Okay, Ina. You can hold me to that. I'm sure you'll be ready to head out once we meet people from all over the galaxy!"

"I don't know… I have an uneasy feeling about it."

"You'll see. Good night Ina!"

Ja'Ina lay back down and sighed. "Yeah, you too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Ja'Ina was working at The Haven as part of the mid-day shift. She hated working during the day, but she was glad to be working the bar instead of the restaurant. As usual for this time of day there were very few customers in the bar. And those who were there tended to be the pitiful types who couldn't wait for the evening to get soused.

The HoloNet monitor was on with the volume low, but it was enough that Ja'Ina could hear what was going on as she wiped down the countertop. She began to think again about the impending trip that she and Soraa will be taking, that perhaps they'll see some of what is shown on the HoloNet in person. That was exciting to Ja'Ina, but she still couldn't shake her concerns.

"Koi! Okulay norva souona no," a Rodian halfway down the bar yelled out.

Ja'Ina called back, "Okay, another Norvanian grog coming up!"

The Rodian was a bit drunk and terse, but nothing Ja'Ina couldn't handle. Rodians were probably the most common of the non-human races seen in Sim Katall. They tended to be a little less-than-savory, but at least they were harmless most of the time. Still, Soraa stayed away from them as much as possible ever since her assault.

Ja'Ina walked over to her green patron and placed the drink in front of him. Without saying anything, he took out some credits and slapped them down on the bar. She graciously took the money, but the tip was woefully small. She quietly grumbled to herself as she went back to restock some of the more popular potent potables.

One thing that Ja'Ina did like about working during the day was that she could keep the front door open to let in the daylight and fresh air. That made the boring shift more bearable.

Taking a break, Ja'Ina poured herself a glass of sweet viba juice and sat down at one of the tables in front of the holomonitor. A popular soap opera was on. She didn't care for such programs, but it was a nice distraction anyway. Suddenly a HoloNet news flash interrupted the show.

A red-skinned Zeltron newswoman broke the story. "This is the Mid-Rim HoloNetNews Service with a news flash. The Imperial Senate has passed a new ordinance granting the military broader powers in enforcing weapon control laws beyond the Core and Inner-Rim. Systems in the Expansion Region and Mid-Rim will be the first to experience the new enforcement.

"The Imperial Security Bureau reminds citizens to have the proper documentation for legal weapons. The sales and possession of ranged energy weapons such as blasters are the main focus of the new enforcement, but other weapons listed in the existing laws will also be targeted.

"Authorities also remind citizens that the punishments for violations are harsh, starting with one galactic standard year in a prison facility. Emperor Palpatine issued a statement saying this is necessary in order to maintain peace and order throughout the Galactic Empire as the Rebellion continues its attempts to usurp stability in the galaxy. This is the Mid-Rim HoloNetNews Service. We now return you to the scheduled programming."

Ja'Ina downed the rest of her juice and stood up. She knew that Goan and Soraa could be in danger with this new enforcement. The town's police force was small and followed soft enforcement of Imperial laws, but they may be forced to step it up now. Or worse, Imperial Authorities could come to Sim Katall to directly handle enforcement. She had to warn Soraa and Goan at the shop, but she was working the bar alone and she had a couple more hours left to her shift.

The Rodian at the bar yelled out to Ja'Ina again. "Diie onugo jaar hitoo!"

"Okay, okay! One order of dried jaar beetles!"

It was a Rodian delicacy, but was quite nasty to the human palate. The Haven's owner purposely kept a stock of it just for the Rodian customers. It kept them coming in for drinks. Ja'Ina sighed as she filled her customer's order.

* * *

When her shift was up, Ja'Ina ran over to Goan's shop. When she got there, she stopped short of going in the door in order to catch her breath and enter the shop in a calm manner.

Ja'Ina scanned the shop and found Soraa talking with a couple of customers about some kind of small blaster. Soraa caught sight of her friend and waved, indicating she'd talk with her when she was done. So Ja'Ina walked over to the small section of melee weapons.

Ja'Ina never cared for any kind of ranged weapons; they were too impersonal for her. If she needed to defend herself like she did at The Haven, she preferred to remain directly connected to the situation. Her dancing skills were conducive to melee combat and gave her a natural ability with such weapons. Soraa would sometimes give her a hard time about 'playing with ancient toys', but it was all in jest between friends.

Ja'Ina noticed a quarterstaff on the wall and took it down. She held it with both hands, feeling the weight and balance. It was over two meters long, and made of a strong wood that had a little bit of flexion to it. She swung it around a few times and twirled it over her head. She spun herself around as she swung the 'staff from one hand to the other, then she grabbed it with both hands and thrust it forward like she was jabbing an invisible assailant. Ja'Ina's motions looked like a graceful, intricate dance, but could have caused some serious injury had the assailant been real. A satisfied smile shone from her face.

When she stopped, Ja'Ina realized that the conversation between Soraa and her customers had also stopped. She turned around to see them all staring at her with mouths agape.

Ja'Ina was a bit embarrassed. "Sorry!"

She quickly put the quarterstaff back on the wall and picked a small knife with a beautiful handle and embellished blade. She looked at it closely.

After a short time, Soraa ended up selling two light sporting blaster pistols. They were just barely adequate for general self-defense, so they were legal by Imperial standards. But, they were also inexpensive and gave Goan a meager profit margin. She had her customers fill out the proper paperwork and took their payment.

After the customers left the shop, Ja'Ina razzed her best friend. "I guess your blasters weren't very interesting, huh?"

Soraa gritted her teeth. "Knock it off, Ina! This is the first sale we've made in almost a week."

"I know, I know. Just kidding!"

Soraa rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Sorry, I'm just really hoping to get more business-"

"Before we leave, right?"

Soraa sighed. "Yeah..."

Ja'Ina turned more serious. "Listen. I just saw on the news that the Empire is going to start cracking down on weapon sales very soon, even out here. I think you and Goan really need to be careful."

"Blast it! We gotta let him know!"

* * *

Soraa locked the front door and she took Ja'Ina into the basement in the back. Ja'Ina had never been down there before. Soraa told her about the secret illegal stock, but kept Ja'Ina away from it to keep her safe from any potential trouble. They got to the back area where Goan was repairing a blaster rifle at his workbench.

Soraa ran over to him. "Goan! We have a problem!"

Goan did not look up from his work. "Yes, the Empire is tightening its grip on weapon sales and possession. Part of my business is to keep on top of anything and everything that can affect my business." He put his tools down and looked up at the young women.

"What are we going to do?" Soraa tried to not sound worried, but she couldn't hide it.

"We'll keep doing what we have been. There's not much else. Hopefully, they'll pass over our town. Even the constable has a heavy blaster pistol he bought from me, which is still technically illegal for him to carry under Imperial laws. It doesn't matter that he's part of local law enforcement."

Ja'Ina interjected, "so no matter what, you'll still be caught with something considered illegal should the Empire come sniffing around?"

The old man sighed. "Yeah, that's about it. Come here, girls, I want to tell you something..."

Goan pulled a couple of stools up beside him and the women sat down.

He smiled at them. "Believe it or not, I'm old enough to remember living in the prime time of the Republic. I actually settled here on Galathu about four standard years after the Empire was formed. I suppose that's about fifteen years ago now.

He scratched his head as he recalled memories he hadn't visited in a long time. "After my wife passed away, I traveled around the core worlds performing all sorts of freelance technical repairs and maintenance – engines, droids, generators, whatever. In the days of the Republic it was easy for me to make a living. Then the Chancellor managed to take full control of the senate and proclaimed himself Emperor of the galaxy." Goan's expression turned grim.

Soraa jumped in, "yeah, we know that."

"But what you don't know is how quickly the Empire started squelching anything that might challenge their authority in the slightest. I lived a perfectly honest life with my business. But at one point, I was approached by an Imperial governor who insisted that I _consider_ working for the Empire, which I politely declined. I was declared a criminal because my skills could be hired to build weapons for the Rebellion. I didn't like what the Empire was doing one bit, but I didn't want to get in the middle of the war. But if you're not with the Empire, you're considered against them."

Ja'Ina and Soraa listened to Goan's tale with wide-eyed amazement.

"I spent three years doing hard labor on Kessel as punishment. After I was released, I had nothing and had to start over. I came to Galathu and opened my little shop, so I could still do what I loved but with a low profile. I wanted nothing to do with the war, just to make a simple living. As the Empire grew in power, freedoms began to wane. That even affected my business out here, but I didn't want to stop selling the items that were now considered illegal. It was my quiet protest against the Empire."

Soraa was upset. "I can't leave you now! Not if the Empire's going to arrest you!"

"Nonsense! I'm glad you are finally able to travel to Jum Katar and hopefully leave Galathu. I won't let you get caught up in this mess."

"But what will happen to you?" Ja'Ina asked.

"That doesn't matter at this point. What matters is that the both of you get on with your lives. You still have lots of living ahead of you. Your well-being is the most important thing to me. Speaking of which…"

Goan got up and retrieved a holstered pistol from a shelf. He handed it to Soraa.

"A DL-44 heavy blaster pistol!" she exclaimed.

"I want you to have it. It will afford you more protection than your -18. Please take it."

"I-I don't know what to say... Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, my dear Soraa. You deserve it. You've been a great apprentice and employee, and I'm worried about your safety out there. Just be careful where you openly carry it. Unlike your -18, this one's illegal by Imperial law."

Ja'Ina was also speechless. "Goan... You are such a wonderful man to care so much for Soraa."

Goan turned to Ja'Ina. "Oh, I have something for you too, my dear."

"I appreciate your offer, but I don't like guns."

"Ahh, but you know I have more than just guns here. I saw you trying out the quarterstaff in my security monitor. I want you to have it."

Ja'Ina's eyes widened in surprise, "I can't accept it!"

"Sure you can. I haven't been able to sell it ever since I got it in stock. Most people prefer to protect themselves from a distance." The old man smiled.

"I can't thank you enough!"

Soraa and Ja'Ina hugged Goan together.

"I want to make sure you have the ability to protect yourselves once you leave Sim Katall. It can get dangerous out there, I know."

Soraa took the blaster and holster and strapped it onto her belt and leg. Psychologically, it felt good to her to have a blaster with more power to it. She practiced a couple of quick draws to get the feel of it. It was heavier and bulkier than her DL-18, but she liked the balance. She pointed it straight out to the wall, looked through the sight and smiled.

Soraa smiled at her mentor. "You've given me so much over the years, I can't thank you enough!"

Goan rubbed her shoulder. "What you can do for me is to use your blasters only when you need to." He narrowed his eyes. "And whatever you do, do not use them for foul ends. If I hear of you holding up a liquor store or something like that, I _will_ find you..." Then he relaxed and smiled warmly.

Ja'Ina returned to the back room holding the quarterstaff, grinning ear-to-ear.

Goan turned to the young woman. "There you go. That's more like it!"

"Thank you," was all Ja'Ina could say.

"Now you both can take care of yourselves and each other, where ever you find life taking you." He turned back to Soraa, "Go home and enjoy the rest of the day. I'll take care of the shop. It's not like I'll see very many customers from now to closing anyway."

Soraa and Ja'Ina left the shop and walked proudly back home with their gifts. Ja'Ina used her 'staff like a walking stick. Soraa kept her new blaster on her hip, which made Ja'Ina a bit nervous.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to wear it out in the open, Soraa?"

"Sure! I don't see any Imperial troops around here; do you? Besides I feel more comfortable with it on. Y'know, more protection."

"Protection from what?"

Soraa shot her friend an annoyed look. "Whatever."

"Like what, a space slug crossing the road? We're quite safe here."

"That's easy for you to say..." Soraa's voice trailed off as she had a quick flashback to the incident with the drunken Rodian.

"I'm sorry, Soraa," Ja'Ina said, knowing what Soraa referred to. "I understand."

They walked back to their flat under the late afternoon's darkening sky of clouds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Soraa decided to practice with her new blaster at the range. She changed into a black bikini, boots and a black jacket and walked over to the range with her blaster strapped to her hip. Again, Ja'Ina was against Soraa wearing her pistol openly like that, but Soraa wouldn't have it. Ja'Ina decided to stay home and read a holonovel.

Twilight was fast approaching, but luckily the range wasn't far away. Goan had built it hidden back on some land he had bought a long time ago. It was entirely underground with a well-camouflaged entrance among a thick stand of trees. Soraa made sure no one saw her as she entered.

Soraa had spent countless hours there honing her shooting skills. She preferred pistols because they were easier to carry and more handy in a situation. But she also developed respectable skill with rifles and some of the larger mounted weapons.

Soraa was bored with the traditional 'stand in one spot and shoot the static target from ten meters' practice, so she spent the most time in the full simulation chamber. It was a large room with modular partitions and small spherical remote target droids that floated around on miniature repulsors. The goal was to get through the maze while hitting all of the droids without getting hit by their stun blasts. Her skimpy attire allowed the stun blasts to contact bare skin for the full effect. It wasn't really necessary, but Soraa preferred the added element of realism to the exercise.

She changed her blaster's energy pack to a practice pack, which had just enough power to register a hit that would simply deactivate the droid. It also removed the possibility of inflicting collateral damage to the walls.

Soraa shed her jacket, boots and weapon belt and took her place at the starting point. With her new blaster in hand, she stood at the ready. Even though it was just a simulation, it still gave her quite the adrenaline rush.

The start alarm sounded and Soraa took off down the first corridor. The first droid popped up out of the floor right in front of her just before the first junction. She easily blasted the droid before it got its own shot out. The remote shut down and floated motionless in mid-air as she ran by.

Soraa turned the first corner and almost ran right into the second droid. She dove down to the floor and slid to the opposite wall, firing the entire way. She managed to hit it on the third shot. She found it a bit more challenging to handle this larger pistol while going through such motions.

She quickly sprang to her feet and looked around. She was at the dead end of a four-way intersection. Just as she started to run, another droid came around into the intersection. Soraa couldn't react fast enough to get the first shot off, so she kept running right past it. It turned into the hall and fired at her. The stun blasts shot past her too close for comfort. This remote was forcing her down the way she didn't want to go, but at least it wasn't a dead end, yet.

Up ahead, Soraa saw a turn to the left and ran as fast as she could as the stun blasts flew around her. She needed to get to a position that wasn't open to the corridor. Another droid entered the hallway from that turn. She dove forward to the floor on her belly and fired one shot that landed square on the spherical remote. Without stopping her momentum, she scrambled back to her feet and ran around the corner.

The first droid was still coming up the hallway towards Soraa and she kept close to the corner, breathing heavily. She quickly leaned around the corner and squeezed off a single shot before ducking right back. It missed, and the droid continued to close in, firing its stun blasts.

This action repeated a couple more times until the droid was about three meters from the turn. Soraa sprang out, crouching low. The droid anticipated her to be standing, so its next shot hit the wall above her. She raised her pistol up and hit the droid right in the center of its spherical form.

Soraa caught a couple of breaths, then got up and ran down the new corridor. She just started her run and another droid appeared in front of her. She stopped cold and brought her weapon up to fire. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. The droid's shot hit her square in her bare abdomen, knocking her backwards down to the floor. Her body shuddered from the stun energy. After several seconds, the stun effects dissipated and Soraa sat up, rubbing her head.

"Dammit!" she muttered, out of breath.

Soraa sat on the floor for a while, looking at the deactivated remote droid that hovered in front of her. Sweat was beading down her forehead and her heart was pounding. She was very disappointed with her performance. She hadn't failed the course in nearly a year now, but she didn't want to blame it on her new blaster.

Soraa stood up and retrieved her pistol, which flew out of her hand when she was stunned. She adjusted her bikini and walked back to the start, where she gathered her things. She put her boots and weapon belt back on, but she was feeling too hot for the jacket.

* * *

Soraa shut the power down and left the range. It was dark outside and the temperature started to drop. The sweat on her skin helped to cool her down in the chilly air. She started back down toward the road.

It was pretty quiet out in the field between the trees and the road. Soraa wasn't even sure if there were any animals nearby. She wasn't worried though, she had faith that she could deal with anything as long as she had her blaster handy. The night sky was thick with clouds so even light from Viinn could barely break through.

_I should have brought a hand-luma_, she thought.

After several minutes, she was nearly back to the road. At that point, she put her jacket back on as she was starting to get cold. Then she heard something and stopped walking.

Soraa stood perfectly still for a moment. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness so she could just make out subtle shadows around her, but not much else. The air was quiet and calm.

"I must be hearing things," she muttered to herself. "Getting too jumpy..."

She started to walk again when she heard the sounds again. They sounded like quick footsteps in the grass with the sounds of deep grunting coming right toward her. With perfect reflexes she undid the holster's retention strap, drew her blaster, turned in the direction of the sounds and fired into the dark.

The blaster bolt lit the area in front of Soraa for an instant, but didn't look like a normal shot; it was much dimmer and the wrong color. It struck the intruder in the forehead.

The intruder yelled in pain, "Arrrgh!"

Soraa just realized that she forgot to exchange the regular energy pack back into her pistol, so the blast did nothing more than inflict superficial injury and likely anger her assailant.

"Damn!" she yelled in a panic. This was the one time she chose to not carry her hold-out blaster as well.

A hand reached out in the darkness and grabbed Soraa's wrist. She tried to pull away, but it was no good, so she instead kicked at the dark figure in front of her. Another hand grabbed her foot and flung her backwards and she fell hard to the ground. The figure let out a slow, deep laugh and for the first time, Soraa feared for her very life.

He spoke to her. "Ja'Ina owes me for disgracing me in The Haven, but you'll do just fine!"

Soraa recognized the voice, "You!"

"Yes. Ja'Ina made a fool of me, so I just wanted to pay her back. I've got you instead, which will be just as good."

Soraa yelled at him. "You were already a fool! She's not to blame!"

Merek picked her up by her jacket collar. "You think I'm a fool, do you?" He accented his words with a strong open-handed strike across Soraa's face.

Then suddenly something hit him hard in the kidney. He screamed in pain and dropped Soraa onto the ground. She lay there stunned with the wind knocked out of her.

Merek turned and faced Ja'Ina, who was armed with her quarterstaff. She gave him a swift jab in the mouth, then spun around and hit him in the knee, breaking it.

He went down screaming, "My leg!"

With his face bloodied, Merek was on the ground holding his knee and groaning.

Ja'Ina walked up to him and gave him a powerful spinning kick to the head. He fell over like a sack of tauntaun entrails. She activated a hand-luma and ran over to Soraa, who still lay on the ground.

Ja'Ina sat her wounded friend up. "Soraa, Soraa! Are you alright? Soraa! Say something!"

Soraa moaned as she came to. Ja'Ina could see that Merek hit her pretty hard in the face. The left side of Soraa's face was swollen and bruised. Her lip was cut and bleeding.

Soraa spoke weakly, "yeah, Ina. I'm okay. It looks like your _fan_ wanted a repeat performance..."

Ja'Ina looked down at the incapacitated man with disgust. "It's one thing if he wanted to come after me, but to go after you too is deplorable! I'm sorry..."

Soraa got up slowly and shook her head to clear her mental fog.

Ja'Ina pointed to the mark on Merek's forehead. "What is _that_?"

"I shot him before he grabbed me, but I still had the practice power pack in my blaster. It didn't really do anything except make him as mad as a Wookiee with Arburian ticks."

"That's quite the shot, especially in the dark!"

"Yeah, he's very lucky I didn't have the right power pack in my blaster."

Soraa stumbled over to Merek and kicked him hard in the gut. She accentuated her kick with an angry scream.

Ja'Ina grabbed Soraa and pulled her back. "Soraa, stop! He got the point. He's not going to bother either of us again."

Soraa spat on Merek as she felt some blood drip down the side of her face where he hit her. A couple of streaks of tears mixed with the blood.

Ja'Ina took Soraa's hand. "C'mon, let's go home."

"Ina, what were you doing out here anyway?"

"Something inside told me to come meet you out here and walk with you back home."

"Whatever it was, the timing was perfect. Thank you." Soraa rubbed her head. "I feel like I've been caught up in a nerf stampede."

The friends walked home, leaving Merek unconscious on the side of the road.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

A couple of weeks passed, and Soraa and Ja'Ina continued their preparations to leave Sim Katall. They knew that Raelin and the others would be returning soon to take them with to Jum Katar.

Merek did not go to the constable about the incident outside the blaster range. The young women were fine with calling it even. They hadn't even seen him around town lately, which was also fine with them.

Ja'Ina continued to work at The Haven. She didn't have any more shows scheduled before they were to leave town but still continued to practice dancing as much as she could.

Soraa kept working at Goan's shop and continued to hone her blaster skills. Since her assault at the blaster range, she always wore one of her blasters and kept her hold-out blaster in her boot. Most of the locals didn't openly carry any weapons, but she didn't care.

There were, however, more beings around from out-of-town as of late and most of them carried a weapon of some sort. Even Goan started carrying a blaster all the time. A general sense of unease grew throughout Sim Katall. Stories spread throughout the town that the Imperial presence on Galathu had increased dramatically.

Ja'Ina was really feeling that nervous energy. It was negative and drained her of some of her own energy. She started spending more time out in the forest. Being out there and more connected with the natural world helped her to achieve peace of spirit. Even if the weather was inclement, she still would go there to meditate and turn her mind inward, listening to her feelings.

* * *

One evening, Ja'Ina was working at The Haven and it was crowded with many unfamiliar patrons. She noticed even more blasters being carried inside as well. This put her more on guard while she was there. She now kept her long dagger within reach under the bar, just in case.

"…Yeah, it's getting rougher to get around without feeling threatened," a three-eyed Gran said at the bar.

His human companion replied, "The Empire seems to be making everything worse on Galathu _and_ Krrad now! At least they don't come 'round here in these parts very often. They're all over Jum Katar though."

"Well, I'm fine with it as long as the Imps just stay away from here," the Gran added as he took another sip of his drink.

In spite of this heightened anxiousness, some patrons still enjoyed their time by playing the popular card game sabacc, or the holographic strategy game dejarik. Ja'Ina worked hard to block out the negative energy that had been slowly building, focusing instead on washing the glasses and mugs.

That same evening, Soraa was at home listening to The Sea of Lights' audio disc that Raelin gave her, and treating the wound on her face. The bruising had gone away, but the cut right behind her left eye was still healing. It was probably going to leave a scar, so she took that as a reminder to be more careful from then on.

She had the music turned up loud so she could hear it in the back room. The song currently playing was a slower piece, the only one that did not have any beats to it. It actually had little more than Raelin's voice. This was Soraa's favorite track because she loved his voice. She went back out to the front room and plopped down on the couch to take it all in. She nursed a bottle of Nimu ale, trying to feel more relaxed.

Soraa was happy to be getting out of Sim Katall soon, especially with everything getting sketchier lately. It was to the point that she now kept her hold-out blaster out inside the flat.

The song ended, but it was too soon for her. So she played it back again and finished her ale. When the song ended again, she turned off the audio system. She picked up her hold-out blaster and took it with her to the bedroom. She went to sleep with it under her pillow.

* * *

It was now the fourth week since Raelin and the band left Sim Katall. They were due to arrive the next day. Soraa and Ja'Ina figured out what to pack up with them. They knew they couldn't take much, but were fine with that.

Soraa could hardly contain herself. "I can't believe it, Ina! The day we've been waiting for is finally here!"

Ja'Ina tried to focus on all of the years they waited to get out of Sim Katall, but it was hard to hide her concern. "It seems like we'll really have to watch out for the Imperial authorities and make sure we keep our noses clean."

"Ina, you worry too much. We won't have any problems with them."

"You mean we _shouldn't_ have any problems, Soraa."

"We'll be okay. We need to have some way to protect ourselves just in case, right?"

Ja'Ina stood there, looking at Soraa for a moment. "I know..."

* * *

Late in the afternoon, the friends finished packing and settled the arrangements for their flat. They decided to go down to The Haven to have a couple of drinks. Soraa sported her DL-18 blaster and Ja'Ina her long dagger. They decided to stop by Goan's shop on the way there.

As they got closer to the center of town, Soraa and Ja'Ina heard some commotion down the street. They picked up their pace until they came around the corner to the main street. They stopped cold at what they saw.

Around the entrance to Goan's shop stood about a dozen Imperial Stormtroopers along with some kind of large repulsor transport vehicle. The women instinctively jumped back behind the corner before they were noticed. Soraa reflexively drew her blaster while Ja'Ina carefully watched the scene.

There were troopers walking out of the store with boxes of Goan's inventory, having apparently confiscated everything within. Their white armor suits shone brightly in the afternoon sun. The constable merely stood by out of the way and watched, looking like he wanted to be just about anywhere but there. Then Ja'Ina saw a couple of the troopers escorting Goan out of the shop. He was shackled and his face was bloodied. She gasped at the shocking scene and ducked back behind the corner. She looked at Soraa with wide, fearful eyes.

"Ina, what is it?" Soraa whispered. "What is it?"

Soraa peered around the corner and looked just as Goan was being loaded into the transport. She gasped and ducked back as well, nearly hyperventilating from the shock.

Soraa whispered insistently, "We gotta help him, Ina!"

"No! That would be beyond foolish now! The best thing you can do for him is to stay out of harm's way, or else everything he's done for you will be for nothing."

"I can't just stand by and do nothing!"

"There's just the two of us, we can't do anything for him now."

Soraa poked her head around the corner again. She watched as the transport drove off then ducked back with tears streaking down her face.

Ja'Ina peered around the corner again. As the transport disappeared and the Stormtroopers dispersed, she noticed someone standing at the front of the shop. It was Merek, still leaning on a crutch after the beating he received from the young women. He noticed Ja'Ina spying at him and gave her a wink with a contemptuously smug smile. Then he turned and limped away.

For the first time in her life, Ja'Ina felt real rage. Merek has now hurt two people close to her. She focused on her feelings and brought them under control. She turned back to Soraa, who was now crying inconsolably. Ja'Ina kept Merek's involvement to herself. There was no way her distraught friend could handle it rationally.

"Come on, Soraa. Let's go back home before we get caught up in this mess."

Soraa responded with a tearful nod.

* * *

The two walked back to their flat, feeling very low. When they got there, Ja'Ina double-checked the contents of her rucksack. Soraa went straight for another bottle of ale which immediately Ja'Ina snatched from her hand.

"Enough with that karking drink! I've let it go before because I didn't think you were drinking too much, but now you're getting way too dependent on it."

"Drop it, Ina! You saw what just happened!" Soraa tearfully glared at Ja'Ina. "I gotta come down somehow. We're going to be stuck here until Raelin and the others come."

"You need to hold yourself together, Soraa. If the Empire tracked down Goan, who's to say they won't come for us next? We need to be on guard until we leave town."

The sight of Merek selling Goan out to the Imperials burned within Ja'Ina's mind, but she still kept it inside for Soraa's sake. Ja'Ina knew that Merek might send the Stormtroopers their way as well.

Ja'Ina led Soraa to the couch and the two sat down.

Ja'Ina started. "Okay, close your eyes and take a few controlled deep breaths."

Soraa was being difficult. "I don't want to! This stuff doesn't work!"

"Trust me." Ja'Ina locked her eyes on Soraa's.

Soraa relented and sighed, "Alright…"

Ja'Ina started again. "Close your eyes and take a few controlled deep breaths."

Soraa did just as her friend said.

"Good, now look into yourself and search your feelings. What's there?"

Soraa sat very still for several moments. "Anger, frustration, sadness..."

Ja'Ina felt pretty much the same way. This exercise was as much for her as it was for Soraa.

"Okay, that's good. You recognize your feelings, acknowledge them. It's okay to have them, but now silently tell yourself that these feelings don't have to control you. Then look at the positive things you have, no matter how small they seem and replace the negative with them. Keep breathing deeply."

Soraa spoke in a stream of consciousness, "I see our friendship, health, our trip to Jum Katar, starting our new life..."

"Good… Now breathe a few more times and slowly open your eyes."

Soraa followed Ja'Ina's directions.

"How do you feel?"

"Better, I guess."

"Good. Now if you start feeling the negative feelings again, try to repeat this exercise. Trust me, it helps a lot."

Soraa hugged Ja'Ina. "Thank you..."

Those techniques did usually help Ja'Ina, but right now she still struggled with the anger she felt inside toward Merek. Unfortunately, this time she chose the easier path of pushing those feelings aside instead of facing them and truly overcoming them. She knew it was hypocritical, but she felt helplessly locked within her profoundly intense anger.

Ja'Ina sighed. "It is more important than ever for us to leave Sim Katall. I just hope that we'll be able to stay blended into the masses enough to avoid any Imperial entanglements in Jum Katar. It should be easier than trying to hide here."

Soraa had a new concern, "What about Raelin and the others? We can't get them pulled into this! The Imperials probably have the roads watched, and we can't make them sneak us out of town."

Ja'Ina thought for a moment. "I guess we'll have to make a break for it then. Leave town and meet them outside of any Imperial checkpoints. The band will be coming in via the northwest road, so we'll have to leave early tomorrow morning and head out that way. I don't want to stay here any longer than that and run the chance that some troopers will pay us a visit here. So much for a nice exit..." Ja'Ina sighed, feeling tired.

"Why don't we just leave right now?"

"It'll be better to wait until morning. We need to rest first or we won't be able to get very far. Let's finish packing up our things and then go to bed. At this point, it's not safe for us to camp out for the night."

"Alright then. Let's finish packing then!"

* * *

It wasn't the way Soraa and Ja'Ina wanted to leave town, but it's all they could do with the circumstances. They packed only what they absolutely wanted. Ja'Ina packed her holobooks, and Soraa packed the Sea of Lights disc that Raelin gave her. She wasn't sure when they'd get a player so she could listen to it again, but that didn't matter as long as she had the disc itself.

Among a few other things, they made sure to gather all of their weapons - Ja'Ina's scimitar, long dagger and quarterstaff and Soraa's three blasters.

They put everything together on the couch so it would be ready to grab at any time. Everything else in the flat would be left behind, which wasn't much more than the furniture anyway.

Ja'Ina decided she was going to take a quick look outside. Her fears were unfortunately accurate. There were Stormtroopers patrolling the street, even out at the edge of town where they were. As a result, the young women kept their weapons handy just in case there were any unannounced, unfriendly visitors in the night.

That night, they had a hard time getting to sleep so they talked for a long time, focusing on the new life they were going to have soon. Soraa was exhausted after the stress of the day and ended up falling asleep first. There was no way Ja'Ina could sleep with the anger and hatred stirring within her. She felt there was only one way to be truly released from it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

Once Ja'Ina was certain that Soraa was sound asleep, she got out of bed, taking her sword with her. She went out to the front room and changed into her leotard and slippers, then added a veil draped over her face so that all that could be seen was her exotic, dark eyes. She strapped her scimitar to her back with a baldric so the hilt was behind her left shoulder, and her long dagger on her thigh. She slipped through a side window into the chilly night air and dropped silently to the ground.

Ja'Ina stayed away from the main streets and made her way towards The Haven in the dark. She felt led to go there. It was just about closing time, so there shouldn't be very many people around. Her anger started to surge again, but she kept focused and tried to feel out the situation.

After a time, Ja'Ina made her way to a side street close to The Haven. She pressed herself back against a wall short of the corner. Slowly, she crept to the corner's edge and peered around towards The Haven. No one was there.

Were her feelings off? Did her anger cloud her mind? She didn't know. She ducked back around the corner, crouched down and closed her eyes, trying to focus her feelings.

Ja'Ina meditated for several minutes until something hit her mind like a tap at the back of her head. She opened her eyes like she awoke from a trance and peered around the corner again.

She stared at the entrance to The Haven. A pair of Stormtroopers appeared from one of the cross streets nearby. Ja'Ina pulled her head back slightly, counting on her stillness in the shadows to conceal her. It was hard for her to keep still as she shivered in the chilly night air.

The troopers stopped for a moment, looked around then walked the opposite direction away from The Haven and Ja'Ina. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued to watch the entrance.

A few minutes later, a drunkard stumbled out of the entrance and toddled on a crutch down the cross street, muttering to himself.

_It's him!_ Ja'Ina thought to herself. Her anger kicked up again and she found herself having to fight it even more to stay focused. She began to tremble with the dark sensations. She quickly scanned the streets to make sure everything was clear.

When she was satisfied that it was safe, Ja'Ina sprang out of the shadows and silently darted across the street in the direction of the drunk. She ran back into the shadows on the other side of the street and again pressed back up against a wall, looking in all directions.

All was quiet except for the light breeze wafting through the vacant streets. She continued on towards the man, making her way to the side-street a little ways behind him.

Merek stumbled along, moving very slowly toward wherever his destination was. Ja'Ina had no problem with catching up with him. She silently ran up behind him, launched into a flying kick and planted her foot into his back. He tumbled over and she landed right in front of him. He stared up at her as she quickly removed her veil, revealing her identity to him.

Merek squinted, trying to focus on the figure standing over him in the street-luma's dim light. "W-w-ow! I must be dreamin'," he slurred. "Ya gonna gimme a prrrivate dance?"

Ja'Ina stared down at him with the utmost fire in her eyes. He still sported some bandages from the injuries she and Soraa inflicted upon him. His crutch laid a couple of meters away.

Ja'Ina slowly spoke to Merek in a low, disgusted tone. "Fine if you had something you wanted to settle with me. But to attack Soraa and sell out Goan, you stepped over the line _big time_." She paused and took a deep breath. "You don't know who you're dealing with! You have made your _final_ mistake!" She felt a deep, dark energy course throughout her very being.

The drunkard just stared up at her, oblivious to her ominous statements. "What're ya gonna do, huh? Kiss me?" He started laughing and slowly stood up with the grace of a one-legged rancor.

Rage welled up inside of Ja'Ina and she felt the dark power encircle her as if to direct her actions. In one blindingly-fast fluid motion she reached up behind her shoulder, drew her scimitar, spun around and slashed at his belly.

Merek's oversized gut opened up from the slash. He was so intoxicated that he felt no pain, but he quickly fell over and died with his face frozen in shock.

Ja'Ina quickly sheathed her sword and returned to the shadows. She ducked behind a building and crouched down, breathing heavily. The rush was really strong, throbbing with some kind of incredible, dark power. But it did not feel right. She was not an assassin.

She frantically thought to herself, _what have I done? What have I done?_

Ja'Ina started quietly sobbing into her hands, feeling intense regret. _Merek was a filthy son of a bantha, but did he really deserve to die?_ Somehow, she managed to refocus. She had to get out of there before the Imperials discovered her handiwork. She replaced her veil over her face and made her way back to the flat.

* * *

Ja'Ina quietly climbed back through the window, pulled off the veil, removed her scimitar and then collapsed onto the couch, crying. The commotion awoke Soraa, who ran out to investigate the noise with blaster in hand.

Soraa was surprised to find her friend there. "Ina! What are you doing out here, and dressed in your exercise clothes?"

"I did it, I did it. I shouldn't have, but I did..." Ja'Ina cried into the cushions.

"What did you do? Huh?" Soraa grabbed Ja'Ina by the shoulders and sat her up. "Tell me, Ina. What did you do?"

Ja'Ina looked down into her lap and softly said, "I killed him..."

"What? You killed somebody? Who? Why? How?"

Ja'Ina looked up at Soraa mournfully, "I- I killed Marek..."

Soraa was shocked. "Merek? Why did you do that?"

"I didn't want to tell you earlier. You were having a hard enough time as it was. He turned in Goan to the Empire! I saw him there at the shop this afternoon! I couldn't stand it anymore! All because of that night at The Haven, Merek's hurt everyone I care about! I couldn't take it anymore! It should have been me! Not you! Not Goan!" She buried her face in her hands, her tears running through her fingers.

Soraa was incredulous. Ja'Ina held a respect for all living things. It was not in her nature to needlessly kill.

Then Soraa regarded Ja'Ina's sheathed sword on the floor. She picked up the sheath and pulled the weapon out. Its gently-curved blade was drenched with blood. She released it as if it stung her hand and it fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Soraa stood there, aghast. "You _did_ do it... I-I can't believe it!"

"I'm so sorry! I just got so angry, I couldn't help myself!" Ja'Ina looked up at Soraa, her honey-brown face soaked with tears.

"That's not the Ja'Ina I know! What happened to centering yourself and focusing on the positive?"

Ja'Ina looked at her with reddened, tear-filled eyes. "It was just too much! I tried, but I just couldn't do it this time..." Her voice trailed off.

"Okay, okay." Soraa picked up the stained sword and wiped it off with a cloth. She then washed out the sheath.

Soraa hugged her distraught friend. "Here's what we're going to do," she continued. "We need to leave, now. It's just a few hours earlier than we planned, and maybe it's for the best since we'll still have the cover of darkness. Get changed and grab your stuff. We're going. Right now."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

Soraa changed into her tank top with trousers and boots, while Ja'Ina simply donned her harem pants over her leotard and added her boots.

They were well-prepared to leave with everything they wanted to take already packed. Soraa packed her DL-18 blaster, but strapped her DL-44 on her belt and put her hold-out blaster in her boot. Ja'Ina stared at her scimitar for a moment. She almost felt like throwing it in a deep, dark hole after what she just did with it. She sighed and strapped it to her back.

They both put their overcoats on and grabbed their rucksacks. Ja'Ina also grabbed her quarterstaff. They took one quick look good-bye around the flat before leaving. It was their first and only home since they left the orphanage.

It was very early in the morning, so it was still dark and chilly out. The Empire hadn't yet established a full-on garrison or imposed an official curfew, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't be suspicious of anyone who was out at this time of morning.

Soraa and Ja'Ina took a look up and down the street, which was clear. They left the flat and headed into the back streets. The northwest road was on the other side of town, so they would have to carefully sneak through, out of sight of any Imperial soldiers. That would take the young women some time.

Quietly making their way through dark neighborhood streets, the pair got to a point where they could see one of the main streets. From there, they saw a landspeeder float by, driven by a pair of Imperial troopers.

Soraa whispered, "How many of them do you think there are in town, Ina?"

"I don't know. I saw only two earlier, but I'm sure there's plenty more around."

"I wonder where they're coming from..."

"Me too. I just hope we don't stumble on it, or we're done for." Ja'Ina exchanged worried glances with her friend.

They continued on through the cover of darkness, but the sky showed the faintest light announcing the approach of dawn. Once the sun was up it would be much more difficult for the friends to avoid the Stormtroopers, if not impossible.

They made their way through the town with Ja'Ina leading the way. They were starting to feel confident they were going to make it out of town without problems when Ja'Ina sensed something.

She urgently whispered to Soraa, "stop!"

Soraa stopped without question, and the two stood still where they were. Faintly, they could hear the telltale sounds of Stormtroopers conversing with each other, the timbre of their voices altered by the miniature speakers in their helmets.

Ja'Ina briefly scanned around and found them, about ten meters away at the entrance to an alley. The troopers hadn't noticed the women yet. She gestured to Soraa to follow her across to the other side and down another alley.

The sky was subtly getting brighter and the women didn't have much time. As the daylight approached, they started to see more Stormtroopers patrolling the streets. There was no sign of the regular inhabitants of Sim Katall, likely afraid to interact with any Imperial agents.

Soraa and Ja'Ina continued to follow a snaking route across Sim Katall. After a couple more close calls with troopers, they made it to the northwest edge of town. The first dawn light was breaking over the horizon and the birds were now awake, chattering and flittering about in the trees.

* * *

There were even more Stormtroopers to be seen moving up and down the street leading out of town. Some were on foot, some in speeders, and some riding speeder bikes. There were also a number of Imperial officers among the troopers.

Soraa was shocked. "Blast it! There're more of them today! Where are they all coming from?"

Ja'Ina was very concerned as well. "I don't know. But it looks like they're setting up a more permanent presence here now. We just need to keep going and somehow make it past them so we can intercept Raelin and the others before they run into any troopers."

They decided to stay away from the road but kept parallel to it. There were plenty of trees and shrubs for them to conceal themselves behind, as long as they kept low. Soraa had to fight the urge to pull her blaster out and carry it along in hand. Ja'Ina held her quarterstaff low to reduce visibility.

Then Soraa and Ja'Ina heard the loud, rumbling sounds of engines from above the trees. They quickly dropped to the ground and peered through the bushes. Things had just gotten worse.

"Damn," Soraa muttered.

A Lambda-class Imperial shuttle was landing right next to the road, its two lower wings folding up parallel to the large dorsal wing.

Soraa sighed, "I guess that's it. The Empire has taken over Sim Katall."

Ja'Ina was confused. "But why? This town is nothing special."

"I don't think the Empire has any rhyme or reason to their actions. They just want to spread their control over the entire galaxy, even this insignificant hole."

They sat there for a moment, dejected. They both felt their hearts pounding hard. Then Ja'Ina got up to a crouch.

"Let's keep going, Soraa. This is not going to get any better..."

Ja'Ina grabbed Soraa's arm and led her along through the trees. They moved as quietly as they could. At least it appeared the Imperials were staying closer to the road for right now, until the young women saw him...

A lone Stormtrooper was sitting on a boulder in the middle of a small clearing up ahead. He had his helmet off with his back towards the friends. They immediately ducked behind the thick trunks of two trees a few meters apart. Soraa and Ja'Ina traded worried looks.

It didn't seem right that he was the only trooper there. Ja'Ina shed her overcoat and quietly placed it on the ground. She then slowly set her rucksack down and grabbed her quarterstaff. She motioned to Soraa to let her know that she was going up to the trooper. Soraa pulled out her blaster and pointed at her own eyes then to Ja'Ina to indicate that she would cover her.

With quarterstaff in hands, Ja'Ina crept up slowly and silently behind the resting trooper. Soraa nervously kept a bead on him and an eye out for anyone else who might join the situation. Soraa had never killed anyone before, and she hoped she wouldn't have to start now, especially if it was an Imperial soldier. Just to be safe, she set her blaster to maximum stun.

Ja'Ina brought her 'staff back and swung hard into the side of the man's unprotected head. The trooper didn't know what hit him; he fell over onto the ground unconscious. His armor loudly crashed as he hit the dirt, which made both women flinch.

Sure enough, the trooper had a partner nearby and the commotion attracted his attention. Ja'Ina quickly darted behind another tree on the other side of the clearing. The second trooper came running over and called out to his partner. Soraa stayed where she was, her hands shaking as she aimed her blaster towards the newcomer.

The second trooper's amplified voice could be clearly heard. "What's going on there?"

He ran into the clearing with his blaster rifle at the ready. He saw his unconscious partner and ran over to him.

"What the-"

Before the trooper could finish his words, Ja'Ina charged him and swung her quarterstaff into his chest. He fell backwards to the ground, losing his grip on his blaster.

Ja'Ina jumped up and landed a hard stomp right into his chest. It knocked the wind out of him, but nothing more – his armor did its job of absorbing much of the blow. He rolled over and tried to grab his dropped weapon. Ja'Ina anticipated his move and kicked it away from his reach.

The trooper managed to just get to his feet when Ja'Ina swiftly jabbed her 'staff into the small of his back. He hollered and went down again.

The Stormtrooper quickly recovered and managed to trip Ja'Ina with his feet. Soraa loudly gasped, which caught his attention. He looked over at her and scrambled to retrieve his rifle.

Before Soraa could think about it, she fired a shot at him. The blast hit the trooper and knocked him sideways. The stun energy was deflected by his armor, so he quickly recovered and reached for his weapon.

By now, the commotion had grown to the point that it started to attract other Imperial soldiers nearby. In a panicked split-second decision, Soraa set her blaster to full power and fired at the Stormtrooper once more. The blast cut right into his armor and he went down for the last time. Soraa didn't have time to react to what she'd just done. She grabbed Ja'Ina's rucksack and tossed it to her as she ran.

The two darted into the trees just as more troopers entered the clearing. One of them had a large shoulder pauldron, indicating that he was the squad leader.

He pointed into the trees where the women fled and called out, "send out seekers after them and bring them back to the shuttle!"

Moments later, three Prowler 1000 seeker droids quickly whizzed into the trees after Soraa and Ja'Ina. Their powerful sensors scanned for their targets as they began the chase.

Soraa and Ja'Ina just kept running as fast as they could, not knowing how many troopers were behind them. They figured they had an advantage since they were unburdened with armor and were familiar with the surroundings. The ground started to slope downwards so they were careful to not lose control of their quick strides. The trees were thinning out more and gave way to a field with tall grass.

The women's escape route made them veer further away from the road, though it was still visible off in the distance. Suddenly a blaster bolt passed between them and hit the ground right in front of them, throwing them to either side of the blast. Soraa fell flat to the ground while Ja'Ina rolled and sprang right back to her feet. She brought her quarterstaff around and defensively held it up in front of her.

Ja'Ina saw that it was actually a small droid flying through the air that was chasing them. "Droid!" she blurted to Soraa.

Soraa rolled over to see a second droid closing fast from another direction. "Droids!" she corrected.

The first seeker fired at Ja'Ina as it quickly came at her. All she could do was dodge the blasts. As it flew upon her she spun her quarterstaff at it. Her strike connected, deflecting the droid's trajectory only slightly. But instead of causing any serious damage to the droid, it knocked her off her feet and sent the 'staff flying from her hands. She hit the ground hard, stunned.

The second seeker bore down upon Soraa. She drew up an easy bead on it and fired her blaster. She hit the droid squarely in the center of its primary photoreceptor and it exploded.

The first seeker droid turned away from Ja'Ina and flew towards Soraa, whom it perceived as the greater threat. It fired a barrage of blasts at her and she dived out of the way as it zipped past. She fired at it as it sped away, but missed.

Ja'Ina sat up coughing and regained her bearings. She saw Soraa tangling with the other droid and got up to help, grabbing her 'staff along the way.

The seeker flew back in between the nearest trees as it circled around for another pass. Soraa led her aim on the target and fired again. This time, her shot just caught the trailing side of the droid, which sent it spinning out of control and it smashed into a tree.

Ja'Ina called out, "hey, good shot!"

At that moment, the third seeker droid flew out from the trees behind Ja'Ina. Soraa cried out.

"Behind you!"

Ja'Ina stepped just a bit to the side. Without looking behind her, she thrust her quarterstaff upward and jabbed it into the underside of the droid in between its grappling arms. She jumped up with the momentum of the droid. She shifted her weight into the weapon, causing it to swing downwards with the droid stuck on the tip. The force of the swing flung the droid off the 'staff and drove it into the ground. Ja'Ina landed on one knee and looked up towards the downed seeker.

Soraa jogged up to the badly damaged droid. Sparks flew and servos whined as it struggled to get off the ground. She pointed her blaster at it and fired. The seeker blew into a shower of sparks and debris.

Ja'Ina doubled over, catching her breath. "What... were those things?"

"Some kind of hunter droid, I guess. The Imperials were too lazy to run after us themselves."

"Looks like your target practice paid off."

"Yeah, except these guys were bigger, faster and meaner than my remotes!"

"I'd say you passed the test with flying colors." Ja'Ina patted her friend's shoulder. "Let's get going before the Stormtroopers realize their droids aren't coming back with us!"

Soraa and Ja'Ina grabbed their things and made a break for the road through the field of tall grass. There was no traffic, which they hoped meant that all of the Imperials were behind them.

As if by divine timing, Ja'Ina spotted Raelin's repulsor van traveling down the road toward Sim Katall and the agents of the Empire. Soraa and Ja'Ina started to yell out and wave their arms wildly as they ran to intercept the van. The young women got close enough to the road that someone in the van caught sight of them and it stopped.

Doren, the Zabrak Lorand-bass player jumped out, puzzled. "Ja'Ina, Soraa, what's going on here?"

The women ran right toward him, breathless. They were dirty and disheveled from their run-in with the Imperials.

Ja'Ina yelled, "Doren! We gotta go, now!"

The Zabrak cocked his head at the young woman. "Why do you look like you wrestled a gundark and lost?"

Soraa stepped up from behind Ja'Ina, "there's no time! We need to leave, now!"

Doren noticed Soraa's blaster on her hip. He pointed at it. "Oh, no, no! We can't have you bring that thing with you!"

Soraa called into the van. "Raelin! Let us in, please!"

From inside, Raelin yelled at Doren. "Let them in! We'll deal with the details later."

Doren paused for a moment, frowning. "...Alright, come on!" he growled.

Soraa and Ja'Ina piled into the van, exhausted. They turned around and drove away towards Jum Katar, perhaps to never return to Sim Katall ever again.

* * *

_Author's Note: This is the end of Episode I, but the story is only just beginning.  
_

_You can find Episode II at: www fanfiction net/s/8479640/1/The-Best-Laid-Plans-Episode-II (just add the missing periods)  
_


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